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Israel pulls all troops from Gaza; cease-fire continues

Israel's military said Tuesday it has withdrawn all of its troops from Gaza, effectively wrapping up its ground operation, although the situation is still volatile and the four-week-old conflict has not ended.

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Israel pulls all troops from Gaza; cease-fire continues

Israel's military said Tuesday it has withdrawn all of its troops from Gaza, effectively wrapping up its ground operation, although the situation is still volatile and the four-week-old conflict has not ended.
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Israeli soldiers from a tank unit carry their gear to a bus as soldiers are removed from a staging area in southern Israel along the border with the Gaza Strip on August 5, 2014.(Photo: Jim Hollander, epa)

GAZA CITY — Israel said it withdrew all its military troops from Gaza on Tuesday as it and Hamas began a three-day cease-fire that appeared to hold on its first day.

The 72-hour truce so far is the longest in the nearly month-long conflict. Previous cease-fires were short-lived and ended with both sides blaming each other for undermining peace efforts. The situation is still volatile, and fighting that began July 8 between Israel and the Hamas militants who control Gaza has not ended.

The truce — if it continues — will be followed by indirect talks between Israel and Hamas in Cairo aimed at creating a deal that would prevent future conflict between the two sides. Gaps between the Israelis and Hamas are wide, and it's not clear how much can be achieved.

Hamas wants Israel and Egypt to lift their seven-year border blockade on Gaza and has called for international funds to rebuild the shattered coastal territory. Israel is reluctant to open Gaza's borders until Hamas is disarmed.

Just minutes ahead of the start of the truce, shelling still echoed across Gaza, and Israel said Hamas fired a heavy barrage of rockets at southern and central Israel.

Still, the Israeli military spokesman, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, said the withdrawal is complete and that Israel will now "maintain defensive lines outside Gaza."

He said the withdrawal follows Israel's destruction of 32 cross-border tunnels that permitted militants to carry out attacks against Israel.

Hamas has not commented on the withdrawal.

Nearly 1,900 Palestinians — most of them civilians — have been killed since the fighting began, according to Gaza's health ministry. Israel's military says 64 of its soldiers and three civilians were killed.

Some Israelis on Tuesday were skeptical about Hamas' commitment to the cease-fire.

"It's not worth negotiating with them because they are not reliable and they broke all their commitments," said Idan Zigel, 25, from Tel Aviv.

Khalid Ali, 39, from Gaza, reflected on the cease-fire but also the trail of destruction the month-long conflict has caused.

"Our children should at least enjoy a short time of fun, wearing new clothing, playing with toys, but many children are in their graves now, and will not get that chance."

Palestinians celebrate the announcement of a cease-fire on Aug. 26 in Gaza City. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire proposal to end seven weeks of fighting between Israel and militant groups in the Gaza Strip. (Photo: Mohammed Saber, European Pressphoto Agency)

A worker removes debris from the Cohen family bedroom after a missile fired by militants in the Gaza Strip made a direct hit in their home in Ashkelon, Israel. (Photo: Abir Sultan, European Pressphoto Agency)

A Palestinian boy walks across the rubble of a house belonging to the al-Dakhani family after an Israeli airstrike on the Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip. Two people were wounded in the attack. (Photo: Eyad Baba, AP)

A man looks out the window of a damaged classroom after a rocket, fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip, landed in the courtyard of a kindergarten in Ashdod, Israel. (Photo: Jack Guez, AFP/Getty Images)

A Palestinian man sweeps the floor of his home that was damaged after a mosque across the street was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. (Photo: Roberto Schmidt, AFP/Getty Images)

A Palestinian woman watches from a hole in a home belonging to Hamas financial official Mohammed al-Ghul after it was targeted by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. One of several targeted airstrikes by Israeli forces killed Al-Ghul in his vehicle. (Photo: Mohammed Abed, AFP/Getty Images)

Relatives and close family friends of Daniel Turgeman touch his coffin during the boy's funeral on Aug. 24 in Yevul, Israel. Turgeman, 4, was killed in a mortar attack fired by Palestinians inside the Gaza Strip on Aug. 22. (Photo: Jim Hollander, European Pressphoto Agency)

An Israeli firefighter extinguishes a fire after rockets fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip hit a field near the southern Israeli city of Sderot. (Photo: Menahem Kahana, AFP/Getty Images)

Palestinians carry the body of the wife of Mohammed Deif, Israel's most-wanted man, at the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. According to media reports, Deif's wife and son were killed Aug. 20 in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City. Israel holds Deif, the leader of the Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, accountable for directing the Gaza conflict from underground. (Photo: Mohammed Saber, European Pressphoto Agency)

Israeli soldiers in an undisclosed southern Israeli location take cover inside a cement pipe near the border with the Gaza Strip as a 'red alert' sounds, signaling that Palestinian militants have fired a rocket toward the area. The Israeli army reported that Palestinians shot about 180 rockets and mortars since the collapse of the cease-fire, with scores of Israeli strikes inside the Gaza Strip. (Photo: Avi Roccah, European Pressphoto Agency)

Palestinians grieve over the death of Widad Mustafa Deif, 27, and her 8-month-old son, Ali Mohammed Deif, during their funeral in Jabaliya refugee camp. They were killed by an Israeli strike Aug. 20. (Photo: Khalil Hamra, AP)

A Palestinian boy spots two Israeli drones in the late afternoon Aug. 19. Palestinians fled their homes in neighborhoods of eastern Gaza City carrying bags of clothes, pillows and mattresses after renewed Israeli airstrikes, witnesses said. Nine days of relative quiet in the skies over Gaza came to an abrupt halt when rockets struck Israel just hours before the truce was to expire at midnight local time. Israel immediately ordered a military response, with warplanes striking targets across the coastal strip. (Photo: Roberto Schmidt, AFP/Getty Images)

A rocket fired by Palestinian militants inside the Gaza Strip rises into the night sky. More than 50 rockets were fired toward Israeli civilian centers from Gaza on Aug. 19, shattering the 24-hour cease-fire, and Israel responded with multiple air force attacks on Gaza, with deaths and many casualties reported. (Photo: Avi Roccah, European Pressphoto Agency)

Palestinian rescuers clear the rubble of a destroyed house following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. The Israeli airstrike killed a young girl and a woman, wounding 16 other people. (Photo: Mohammed Abed, AFP/Getty Images)

An Egyptian soldier stands guard on the Egyptian side of the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip on Aug. 13, overlooking the damage in Rafah caused by a month of fighting between the Israeli military and Hamas militants. (Photo: Said Khatib, AFP/Getty Images)

Palestinian mourners carry the body of Zakariah al-Aqrah, 21, during his funeral in the West Bank village of Qabalan. The Israeli military said it killed al-Aqrah early Monday morning after he opened fire on an Israeli force that had come to arrest him in connection with shootings targeting Israeli soldiers two weeks ago. (Photo: Majdi Mohammed, AP)

A Palestinian man standing in a crowd of onlookers reacts to watching a soap factory go up in flames moments after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Aug, 10. (Photo: Roberto Schmidt, AFP/Getty Images)